Want to help the economy in 10 years? Hire an intern.

Times Union reporter Lauren Stanforth’s Sunday lead story, “Kids on the edge” is about poverty of children in our area using 2011 U.S. Census data from the American Community Data. It shows that 37% of the children in Albany are living below the poverty rate, up from 29.2% in 2000. The only answer know to work on reducing poverty is a job. You can make a tremendous difference if you hire a high school or college student as an intern or part-time employee. That opportunity turns statistics into productive tax paying citizens.

Almost ten years ago, two college students were hired to be interns in the Albany County Department of Audit & Control. Siena College student Kelly Collins and Plattsburgh SUNY student Joe Ryan were hired to assist in research for our annual State of the Fisc Report. I’ve forgotten whether or not they were working for college credits or a minimum wage but I’ll never forget the excellent work they did on the report of poverty in Albany County from the 1960 Census all the way up to and including the 2000 Census. They battled over were to find the information, how to present it and how to interpret data that was recast in a different format every 10 years. They decided upon using the breakdown of poverty rate growth in the 10 towns, 6 village and 3 cities within Albany County. They did a brilliant job.

Interestingly, the clarion alarm about the growth rate of poverty within the County was met with yawns…or worse. Back in 2001or 2002 when we did the study, we were concerned about overall poverty rates and the rapid growth. Watervliet and Cohoes grew from 3% to 13% within twenty years or one generation. Albany had just over 6,000 people living below the federal poverty line in 1990’s Census and rose to just over 18,000 people in the 2000 Census living below the Federal poverty level. Ms. Sanforth’s article shows that in the 2010 Census that 37% of the children living in Albany are below the Federal poverty guidelines, another indicator that poverty is expanding within the City.

Collins and Ryan’s work over 10 years ago was echoed by Sanforth’s front page story about poverty last Sunday. Want a small powerful step towards reversing this disturbing trend? Hire a High School or College student as an intern. Give someone the chance to learn from you and other employees within your organization and you’ll be amazed at how much they contribute and how powerful a job can be to a young person. More about this year’s interns, an update on some of the young people that helped us and where they are today. God bless all here.

U2,
Almost thought you were referring to a job until I read the last line. Tax system and welfare both need a major common sense revamp. Please remember when I use the term welfare, I am not just speaking about TANF, SNAP, Medicaid etc., but including the tax code for the connected, IDA benefits, Empire Zone and a host of other corporate welfare benefits.
Michael

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